Gay men running for several posts in Illinois

by Trudy Ring

There are several openly gay candidates up for election Nov. 5.

Larry McKeon is endeavoring to become the first openly gay member of the Illinois General Assembly. A Democrat, he is running for state representative from the 34th District, which is bounded roughly by Addison, Foster, Sheridan Road and the Chicago River. McKeon's opponent is Republican Robert Lytle.

Until recently, McKeon was executive director of the Advisory Council on Gay and Lesbian Issues of the Chicago Commission on Human Relations, and Mayor Richard M. Daley's liaison to the gay and lesbian community; he quit to devote full time to his campaign.

McKeon has pledged to co-sponsor statewide gay and lesbian civil-rights legislation. Also, the candidate, who is HIV-positive, intends to be a spokesman on HIV/AIDS; he is working for increased funding for Illinois' AIDS Drug Reimbursement Program, which pays for medications for people with AIDS who do not qualify for Medicaid or have sufficient private insurance to cover the cost of such treatments. Illinois has cut numerous drugs from the program because of costs, and also has diverted funds from prevention services. State Rep. Sara Feigenholtz, D-Chicago, has introduced a bill to provide an additional $6.7 million to the drug reimbursement program.

The bill will come up in the state legislature during the veto session in November, and although McKeon would not be sworn in until January, he plans to work in support of the bill during the veto session. He plans to go to Springfield to fight for the bill, and also will keep his campaign office, 1967 W. Montrose, open during this time to house phone banks to boost support for the measure.

He also intends to be very active on women's health issues, as well as such matters as welfare reform, education and economic development.

McKeon's opponent, Robert Lytle, held a press conference last summer to accuse McKeon of being dishonest about his "homosexual agenda." McKeon responded that he has always been clear about supporting basic human rights for all.

To volunteer for McKeon's campaign, call (773) 348-3434.

Democrat Sebastian T. Patti is endeavoring to become the first openly gay Circuit Court judge elected from throughout Cook County. (Tom Chiola was elected from a subcircuit in 1994.) Patti, appointed to the court in 1995, is running unopposed for his first full term.

"I am extraordinarily lucky to have been the recipient of the support, the help, the aid of the lesbian and gay community in Chicago and I will never forget it," Patti said. He also is grateful to have been slated by the Democratic Party.

"I want the electorate to know that I will do my level best to be the best circuit court judge that I can," Patti added.

Because of the size of Cook County, he noted, he is likely to win the most votes-perhaps as many as 800,000-of any gay or lesbian candidate in the United States.

Patti and McKeon are both Victory Fund-recommended candidates. Because he is unopposed, Patti is not seeking volunteers.

Patrick Dwyer, candidate for Cook County recorder of deeds, is the first openly gay Republican in a county-wide race. Dwyer, an administrator for the State Office of Banks and Real Estate, came out as gay in September during an endorsement interview with the Independent Voters of Illinois-Independent Precinct Organization.

IVI-IPO had asked him to clarify rumors that had arisen during his primary campaign, in which opponent William J. Kelly criticized him as being too pro-gay. Dwyer said the IVI-IPO interview was the first time the question of his being gay was brought up directly, not as an innuendo, and also the first time it was brought up as something positive. The fact that he is gay was well known to his family and friends, he said, but he had not brought it up earlier in the campaign because he did not consider it relevant to the recorder's office.

Both Dwyer and his Democratic opponent, incumbent Recorder Jesse White, have attracted gay-community support; some of White's supporters cite his gay-supportive record, both as recorder and as a 16-year member of the Illinois legislature. White also has been criticized, though, for having supported an opponent of Larry McKeon's in the primary. White said he was approached by the opponent, Luke Howe, first. McKeon has White's support in the general election.

Dwyer has been involved in some controversy within the Republican Party. Dwyer's name has been removed from the Palatine Township Republican sample ballot, which many voters use as a guide; Dwyer said he was told it was removed because he's gay. The Cook County Republican suburban organization prepares a sample ballot distributed by precinct captains throughout the county, but Palatine Township prepares its own.

Palatine Township Republican Committeeman Robert Bergman said Dwyer was dropped not because he is gay, but because he misrepresented his political agenda, including his support for a domestic-partnership registry. Dwyer responded that he never misrepresented his positions. Connie Peters, Cook County Republican suburban chairman, also said there was no misrepresentation. She said she was surprised by the Palatine Township action.

To volunteer for Dwyer's campaign, call (312) 695-2755.

Another openly gay candidate is Libertarian Joseph Schreiner, running for the Illinois State Senate from the 6th District, on Chicago's North Side.

Schreiner has been challenged off the ballot, but he's mounting a write-in campaign with two other Libertarians, James Haring, running for 12th District state representative, and Harvey J. Gould, running for 9th District U.S. Congressman. A lawsuit to get him back on the ballot is pending, but the next hearing on it is not scheduled until after the election.

Schreiner, formerly a Democratic activist, said he was drawn to the Libertarian Party because the party has supported gay rights since 1972 and because he believes free-market solutions to problems are more effective than government. The Libertarian philosophy generally favors no government intervention in either personal or economic matters.

He said he would support and co-sponsor legislation to ban the government from discriminating based on sexual orientation, but would not favor such a law to cover private individuals and organizations. "However noble the goal of ending discrimination, the regulation and coercion of private activities produces far more problems than the injustices they are designed to correct," he said.

He said he "unconditionally" supports parental rights for gays and lesbians. He favors gradually phasing out all state funds for health services, including AIDS services, but said the dropping of government regulations would greatly decrease the cost of healthcare.

Schreiner is running against incumbent Democrat John Cullerton, who has a long record of supporting gay and lesbian rights and in turn has strong support from the community; and Republican Robert Oberg, who, in his response to the Chicago Log Cabin Republicans' candidate questionnaire, said he supports sodomy laws.

To volunteer for Schreiner's campaign, call (773) 929-9538.